ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2012
Hair toxic metal concentrations and autism spectrum disorder severity in young children.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exposure to Mixtures of Metals and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: A Multidisciplinary Review Using an Adverse Outcome Pathway Framework.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2015Pooled it
- Environmental toxicants and autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2014Pooled it
- Review
- Environmental metal exposure and autism spectrum disorder: spatial analysis of exposure patterns and associated risk among children in Alabama.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Heavy metals exposure and risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among school children in Makassar City, Indonesia.Toxicology reports · 2025Article
- Prenatal Nutritional Factors and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Mast Cells in Autism Spectrum Disorder-The Enigma to Be Solved?International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Update of the risk assessment of inorganic arsenic in food.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2024Article
- Manganese in autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: The state of the art.Current research in toxicology · 2024Review
- Porphyrinuria in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review.Current medicinal chemistry · 2024Review
- Mercury and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring the Link through Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Review
- Review
- Association between heavy metals exposure (cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury) and child autistic disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- Metal Profiles in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Crosstalk between Toxic and Essential Metals.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Rethinking autism: the impact of maternal risk factors on autism development.American journal of translational research · 2022Review
- Combining in vitro assays and mathematical modelling to study developmental neurotoxicity induced by chemical mixtures.Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- The Metallome as a Link Between the "Omes" in Autism Spectrum Disorders.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021Review
- Environmental influence on neurodevelopmental disorders: Potential association of heavy metal exposure and autism.Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) · 2020Review
- Analysis of lead, arsenic and calcium content in the hair of children with autism spectrum disorder.BMC public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Previous studies have found a higher body-burden of toxic metals, particularly mercury (Hg), among subjects diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in comparison to neurotypical controls. Moreover, Hg body-burden was associated with ASD severity. This cross-sectional study examined the potential correlation between hair toxic metal concentrations and ASD severity in a prospective cohort of participants diagnosed with moderate to severe ASD. The Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (Dallas, TX) approved the present study. Qualifying study participants (n = 18) were evaluated for ASD severity using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and quantitatively for arsenic, Hg, cadmium, lead, chromium, cobalt, nickel, aluminum, tin, uranium, and manganese using hair toxic element testing by Doctor's Data (a CLIA-approved laboratory). CARS scoring and hair toxic element testing were blinded to one another. Increasing hair Hg concentrations significantly correlated with increased ASD severity. In contrast, no significant correlations were observed between any other of the hair toxic metals examined and ASD severity. This study helps to provide additional mechanistic support for Hg in the etiology of ASD severity, and is supported by an increasing number of recent critical reviews that provide biological plausibility for the role of Hg exposure in the pathogenesis of ASDs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.